


My night sky

by apathyinreverie



Series: Tripping over tombstones [8]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Fluff, M/M, Sad, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 08:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18518146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apathyinreverie/pseuds/apathyinreverie
Summary: The first time Dave sees Klaus, he is wearing nothing but a bloody towel, clutching a briefcase to his chest like his life depends on it and looking up at him with big eyes from where he is sitting on the floor next to his cot.And immediately, Dave is spellbound. Over the ten months they know each other, that doesn’t change.





	My night sky

Klaus is like no one Dave has ever met before.

He is all big eyes and shrewd mind, soft voice and sarcastic commentary, manipulation and compassion, fragility and unwavering strength, almost child-like in his enthusiasm but far too world-weary to be anything even resembling naive.

Klaus is a beautiful amalgam of contradictions and ever since that first moment – being woken by a strange noise, leaning up on his cot and being faced by the most beautiful man Dave has ever come across staring at him with huge eyes from where he is sitting on the floor – Dave has been absolutely mesmerized, spellbound even.

Within hours of his sudden appearance - the COs might not realize but the rest of them certainly knows that Klaus wasn't part of their unit before and pretty much appeared out of nowhere - everyone already knows who Klaus is, simply because it's impossible not to notice him. Klaus who is so pretty it almost seems a little unreal, who seems far too fragile to be here in what amounts to hell on earth but somehow also seems to fit better into the chaotic mess of death and desperately stubborn hope than anyone else, who somehow outshines every single other person here despite the uncertainty and darkness constantly flitting through his eyes.

Klaus' very presence is eye-catching, bright, impossible to miss. But he is less like the sun and more like a flickering fen light, a will-o'-wisp, almost whimsical in his brightness, there and gone, gone and back again, impossible to look away as you wait for another illuminating flicker of otherworldly, entrancing light, happy to follow no matter where it may lead you.

Klaus burns so brightly and Dave simply can’t seem to look away.

+++

Even that very first day after getting him equipped with everything he will need on the battlefield - and wondering how someone like him suddenly ended up here at all - Dave isn't even willing to wait until they make it off the bus that is carting them to battle.

He watches him from his seat a few rows further towards the back and after a few minutes of not being able to look away at all, Dave just can't help but move up a few rows, close enough that he can at least introduce himself.

And Klaus' voice is soft and his smile beautifully entrancing and his eyes are still slightly wide - assessing but also really fucking confused - as he turns towards Dave, just a glance at first but he must like whatever it is he sees, because within moments Dave suddenly has all of Klaus' attention focused solely on himself.

It's quite the heady feeling. He quickly realizes that he'd do most anything to keep that gaze focused on himself.

+++

Their entire unit quickly realizes that there is something off about Klaus.

Not only because he is twitchy as hell and regularly flinches away from things that aren't actually there. No, there is far more to it.

Like for example the fact that Klaus doesn't die. Or at least he doesn't stay dead.

The first time it happens, Dave only hears about Klaus' miraculous recovery from a supposedly fatal blow to the head afterwards. One of the medics had even pronounced him dead, but suddenly Klaus had been up again in their trench and acting like nothing at all had happened. They call it a miracle, not yet knowing better.

The second time something similar happens, Dave is there and almost goes out of his mind seeing Klaus lying there so still and unmoving, none of that normal ever-present energy around him. But Klaus recovers just like he did last time, going from unmoving to right-as-rain from one moment to the next. By the third time he 'dies', they have all come to terms with the fact that Klaus might not be quite as easy to kill as the rest of them.

They shrug and move on. They are in the middle of a war, comrades dying every day, so one less death to mourn - by whatever circumstances - can only be taken as a good thing in their eyes.

But then there is also the fact that they all know that Klaus _sees_ things, things which aren't actually there. In the mornings - before he comes fully awake - Klaus has a rather disturbing tendency to greet spots of empty air like there is someone standing there or if distracted by a particularly enthusiastic discussion to walk around entirely clear spots in his path. They rib him about it - of course they do - but no one really makes a big deal of it.

They've been on the battlefield for a while now, constantly surrounded by death and destruction. None of them is particularly sane anymore, so why hassle Klaus for his bit of insanity?

And then comes the day the enemy lays a trap. They are completely taken off guard and all of them have to scramble into random directions to make it out at all. In the end, nine guys from their unit - including Dave and Klaus - get stuck in some god-forsaken part of the jungle, no idea which direction their camp might be in, three of the guys wounded - not quite fatally, but at least two of them badly enough that if they don't get help soon it might as well have been a gunshot to the head - and quickly running out of food and water.

The entire situation seems rather hopeless.

Dave - who can barely keep his eyes off Klaus on a good day, much less when there is nothing around to distract himself with - can tell that there is something off about Klaus' behavior. The other man keeps watching all of them, clearly considering, contemplating something.

They sleep on the jungle floor, doing their best to ignore the hopelessness of their situation. By morning, it's obvious that one of the guys' wounds are infected and they all know that if they don't find a way back to camp quickly to get him some help, he simply won't make it.

And Klaus sighs - rather loudly, interrupting the pessimistic, hopeless silence between them where they are all huddled in a sort of circle - and then turns slightly and starts whispering to the empty air behind him. They all watch the following argument with raised eyebrows - an argument Klaus is having with what appears to be several spots of the empty air behind him - but by the end of it Klaus claims to know how to get back.

They all stare and acceptance of Klaus' quirks or not, it's still a bit of a struggle to convince everyone to follow the clearly hallucinating lunatic. But since no one actually has a better idea - and the direction Klaus is pointing in is as good as any to try their luck - in the end they all do.

They make it back to camp in less than five hours.

Klaus leads them on a more-or-less straight path right back to camp, through the thickest jungle and without any apparent markers along the way, while also apparently arguing with one or more people none of them can see. It's admittedly a little freaky.

But, Klaus gets them back to camp. Safely. So, when asked how they managed to find their way back to camp after being gone for two days, Martens - one of the unit's bigger guys - promptly bullshits something about recognizing the part of the jungle they got stuck in from one of the scouting trips he'd been sent on and since no one has any reason not to believe him, they are simply left alone after that.

Not one of their unit breathes so much of a word of the fact that Klaus can apparently talk to invisible people who also happen to know the jungle really fucking well.

And just two weeks later, they all suddenly have an epiphany about just what it is Klaus can apparently do. An epiphany that comes when one of the Trenton twins gets killed in action.

The day after that harrowing battle which lost them two guys just from their tent, they are all sitting together morosely - having their own little  memorial service which includes a whole lot of alcohol and random stories about their lost comrades being told - Klaus suddenly flinches without any apparent cause, spinning around to stare at an empty spot over his own shoulder. He stares, motionlessly, for a minute or two, tilting his head almost like he is listening to someone talk.

And then, Klaus gets up to seek out the other - and at this point near catatonic - Trenton twin, lying on his cot in the corner of the tent.

Of course, they all pretend not to listen as Klaus mediates an entire conversation of tearful goodbyes between the two brothers. A conversation between the twin who is still alive and sitting right there and the twin who is dead but apparently still around.

Yeah, it's really fucking freaky.

Still, even after that, no one breathes a word about Klaus' apparent and at least somewhat disturbing abilities to anyone outside of their unit. Because freaky or not, Klaus is also one of theirs.

And that's really all there is to it.

+++

On their day off, they go to visit the nearby town, almost their entire unit gathering in the local club. The draw of music, alcohol and women too much for anyone to resist. Well, two out of three still counts, right?

But thing is, Dave hasn't been able to look anywhere but at Klaus, dancing, swaying, wearing that slightly melancholic, somber smile that always tugs at Dave's heart, like Klaus is thinking about something not quite sad but also definitely not happy, like he is remembering something or someone. Klaus is plain beautiful, inside and out, something Dave has been aware of since the moment they met but it has only been strengthened with every additional day of knowing Klaus. He is beautiful, breathtakingly so.

So, Dave watches. He simply can't not.

And all throughout the night, Klaus has also been returning his attention in equal measure. Well, at least Dave thinks he has been, but there really isn't any way to be sure about these sorts of things.

Which makes what he does next a tremendously risky and rather stupid thing to do.

They've been sharing drinks and pretty much dancing with each other - the girls with them little more than props for appearance's sake -  and now they are standing in a deserted part of the club, a little obscured from the main room by some sort of frilly curtain thing. And Klaus is standing so close and laughing at something Dave said and Dave's hand almost automatically comes up to rest against the side of Klaus' neck. Dave just can't help himself.

Because he knows he shouldn't. He knows it's too risky to come on to another soldier after meeting him only a few weeks ago, knows that he should make sure Klaus has the same proclivities as Dave himself before he makes a move.

But Klaus just leans his head into the contact, just smiles his not-quite-bright smile and Dave just can't help but apply soft pressure, enough to slowly pull him in.

They are standing in a club filled to the brim with other soldiers, but Dave feels like he simply can't go any longer without kissing Klaus.

And then, Klaus kisses him back and Dave promptly forgets why this was supposedly a bad idea in the first place.

+++

Over the months that follow, they find their own version of happiness.

Somewhere between the blood and the ever-present threat of death hanging over their heads, between despairing at the cruelty displayed by both sides of this war and losing friends, losing comrades, losing brothers, somewhere in between all of that, they manage to steal away a few moments of pure, unadulterated happiness.

And Dave's initial worry about possibly asking too much, about pushing Klaus too far too quickly proves laughably unnecessary. Turns out, between the two of them, it's _Klaus_ who can teach Dave some things and not the other way around.

Because, _hot damn_ , does Klaus know what he is doing. Oh, does he ever. And Dave catches more than one guy eyeing his blissed-out expression rather jealously a few times when they return to camp.

Of course, they are quiet about it. As much as no one in their unit is going to ask what exactly they get up to whenever they disappear together. The sort of quiet tolerance born from letting anyone live what could very well be their last day as they please, certainly wouldn't last if they were to actually show off their relationship to the other guys.

But, hey, their camp is in the middle of the jungle. It's not like there aren't enough hiding places around to make use of.

And they lose themselves in those little pockets of time where it is just the two of them, where nothing matters but the smile on Klaus' face and those oh-so-rare, brief moments where Dave succeeds in entirely chasing the shadows from his eyes, feeling helplessly breathless whenever he gets to see Klaus look truly, unrestrainedly _happy_. Like getting to see the stars glowing in the night sky, peeking out from behind obscuring clouds.

Dave falls for Klaus within weeks of knowing him, helplessly, wholly, unavoidably, is practically consumed by it. And Klaus loves him back with a sort of gentle warmth and unapologetic fierceness that has Dave helpless to simply let himself fall deeper and deeper in love each day.

But then again, why not? War actually isn't so bad if you live through it with the love of your life at your side.

+++

Klaus is beautiful and fragile and always seems to be swaying along to music no one but him can hear, forever smiling despite the ever-present grief in his eyes. He is like some sort of otherworldly, magical creature and from the moment they meet, Dave can barely rip his eyes away.

And Klaus loves him so fiercely that it takes Dave's breath away on most days, but sometimes he also gets the feeling that Klaus is mourning for someone, or at least desperately missing someone.

That feeling only intensifies over the months, as he hears Klaus mumble a certain name in his sleep more than once or watches as Klaus will sometimes suddenly grin in the middle of a conversation, like he just thought of a joke and turn slightly as if to share it with someone who should be standing there. Only for a heartbreakingly sad expression to flit over his face every time at realizing that that particular person isn't actually right beside him.

And Dave would possibly even be jealous, if it weren't for the fact that one day - when they are sitting outside in front of the town's club, smoking and more than a little drunk - Klaus simply starts telling him about his brother Ben. A brother who died when they were still teenagers but who had always been around afterwards in spite of it.

Dave doesn't ask him to elaborate, doesn't need him to. At this point, he is far too familiar with Klaus' gift to need him to spell out how his dead brother could still have stuck stubbornly, reliably to Klaus' side.

But thing is, the brother isn't there anymore. And Klaus sounds so lost when he talks about him, like his brother's presence at his side is supposed to be something unchangeable, immutable, inalterable. And now that it suddenly _isn't_ , Klaus is floundering.

And there is something so fragile and sad and soft and tragic about Klaus' expression when he talks about the brother he is clearly missing so desperately that Dave can't help but wish he could do something to help aside from offering an open ear to any and all stories Klaus wants to tell him about his missing brother. Stories which barely even make sense more often than not, like Dave is missing far too much context about Klaus' life to make sense of it, references to things - like historic figures or technology or music or even movies - that don't actually exist to Dave's knowledge.

Almost like Klaus' home is in a different world entirely. Almost like Klaus doesn't belong here at all.

And Dave suddenly gets it.

Somehow Dave realizes that whatever stroke of luck threw him into Dave's world, Klaus isn't actually for him, won't be able to stay with him forever. And after that epiphany, sometimes Dave can almost _feel_ the tether that is pulling at Klaus, pulling him back towards where he came from.

From that day on, Dave knows. Knows that at some point in time, Klaus will leave him, will be torn away, not necessarily by choice but simply by circumstance.

So, Dave resolves to be grateful for every day he gets to spend with him, with this beautiful man with the beautiful mind and a breathtakingly beautiful soul. He is glad for every morning he wakes to see Klaus still there, still sleeping on the cot next to his and every night before he falls asleep he prays to please get another day to spend with him.

Still, he can see that Klaus is actively fighting whatever it is that makes his eyes look so haunted, like he knows he should be somewhere else, like he knows he should go back.

And while Dave _knows_ that Klaus will leave at some point, plainly put, he doesn't think he'll be able to bear losing him, not quite able to even imagine his world anymore without Klaus in it.

So, when after the happiest ten months of Dave's life, constantly surrounded by war or not, his luck on the battlefield finally runs out, and the last thing he gets to see - as the red-hot searing pain shooting through him steadily turns into ice-cold numbness instead - is Klaus leaning over him, tears in his beautiful eyes, desperation in his voice as he calls his name, Dave thinks it's only fitting that this is how it would end for him.

He already got to experience more happiness in these past months than he ever thought he'd get in a lifetime.

And really, there are worse things than taking your last breaths while cradled in the arms of the person you've come to love more than life itself.

**Author's Note:**

> So... yet another sad story for this series, but at least there is a tiny bit of fluff in this which this series has been sorely lacking :) And this was kind of a spur of the moment thing, but I really liked the idea of writing Klaus from a completely different perspective for once :D Hope you like it despite the definite lack of Klaus&Ben :D  
> Would love to know what you think (*^^*)


End file.
